Thoughts on football, books, and life in general

Pride

This evening’s game against Middlesbrough is Birmingham City’s last home game. Since we have no hope of promotion and no fear of relegation, some would say that there’s nothing to play for but I would like to see the players playing for pride and trying to win. I hope that we’ll do at least as well as we did in the equivalent game last season, when we drew 1-1.

On the topic of pride, there’s an interview with Steven Knight in the Guardian today in which he says that one of his proudest moments was seeing our fans dressed as Peaky Blinders at the Bolton game two years ago. He’s proud of Birmingham and thinks it’s beautiful ‘if you look at it in a certain way.’

Let’s not spend too much time envying clubs who have more success than we do but, instead, celebrate our club and what we do have. Our players aren’t the best but they’ve put in an effort. Our supporters include a few idiots but many who are loyal and committed. The away support has been great. Made in Brum is the only surviving fanzine in the West Midlands and you have to admire the tenacity of big Dave Thomas, who produces and sells it before every home game. I buy it because there’s always something in it that’s worth reading and I’d miss it if it ceased to exist. As Dave always says, ‘Keep the Faith, Keep Right On and Have a Good Un.’